The Liberty ZoneI'm an Army veteran and a Featured writer for both keepandbeararms.com and ArmedFemalesofAmerica.com and a former contributing editor to the NRA's Women's Outlook. I'm also news director for KeepAndBearArms.com.

View From The PorchBooks. Bikes. Boomsticks. A happy place of rolling green fields, where I can let my Snark off the leash to run free among the herds of Bewilderbeests, bringing down the slow and the stupid by the throat.

protein wisdom"Everybody knows that protein is one of the building blocks of life, and you will find no finer protein in the blogosphere than that produced at protein wisdom" -- Bill Quick, Daily Pundit

The Truth Laid BareHome of The TTLB Blogosphere Ecosystem and N.Z. Bear's own brand of commentary:

The War on GunsCo-founder, GunTruths and Citizens of America. Commentary has been featured in GUNS AND AMMO, HANDGUNS and GUNS, as well as numerous freedom-oriented internet sites.

Daily RantTurning America back into a Nation of Riflemen one citizen at a time.

News of Holder’s decision stunned advocates who have for a long time unsuccessfully sought to reverse civil asset forfeiture laws, arguing that they undermine core American values, such as property rights and due process.

I was just noting on Glen Reynolds blog The Instapundit that this is the 606th day of the IRS scandal. This is something that stays in the back of mind, but I think I've dispaired of this ever being resolved. And with the constant scandals occuring within our government I'm not surprised that many people just never think of it at all. Do we just become numb to the corruption within our government? Punch drunk perhaps? Everytime I think that the government has finally crossed the line that will bring open rebellion things just go on as before. Ruby Ridge. Waco. The Bundy Ranch. Police shooting pets in front of their children owners.

At what point do the Amercian people finally yell "STOP!" The Ferguson/Garner protests are the beginning of that, misguided though they are. It's not just black lives that matter. It's all lives. It's "We the People" against "They the Government".

I got into a discussion on Facebook with my brother and his wife. Both are dyed in the wool liberals. Or is that dead in the head? In reference to the recent shooting in NYC they asked "how did the shooter get his gun?". I said that very likely it was illegally. My brother said that until we know how he got it, we don't know if it was illegally. I replied that it didn't matter how he got it, since he's a convicted felon it was illegal. And my sister in law said:

"That's why we need stronger gun laws"

???

I'm sorry, what???????

I was totally gob-smacked. Even today, every time I think about that statement I'm just stupified. Does she think that laws are physical things? That you can make a law so strong that it can't be broken?

I absolutely hate the Arizona Republic in general. In particular their subscription department. I get a bill yesterday because the credit card I had on file had been canceled by the bank. Of course they didn't bother emailing me back in November when this happened. So I figure I'll just use their web site to update my card. How hard can it be? (that's foreshadowing)

I sign on to the web site and it states that my account is inactive. Fine. By the way, just getting to this point was a pain. I find where it says I can update my credit card. Cool. Click that and fill in the new data. Hit enter. Clears the data and just sits there. No error message, no confirmation message. Nothing. Ok, I'll do it again. Same thing.

Ok, back to the Manage Account page. Still says my account is inactive. But the amount I owe has changed. Ok, let's check Account history. Nothing there. Absolutely nothing. You'd think there would at least be a list of my past payments, but no.

Ok, guess I have to call them. Long wait. zzzzzzz wazzat?? I ask about my account. Says I just made a payment. Says my cc data is up to date. Everything is kosher.

Oy.

So this morning I get a call. Yea, you guessed it, from the AZ Republic. There's a problem with my payment. Huh?? Press 1 to talk to a customer service rep. Yes, you're damn right I want to talk to somebody.